TAMS tied with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, in having the most regional semifinalists in the nation. In addition, 15 TAMS students were named regional semifinalists in this year's competition, with TAMS having the second largest number of semifinalists.

Established in 1999 by the Siemens Foundation, the Siemens Competition is one of the nation's premier research competitions for high school-aged students, promoting excellence in math, science and technology. Students may enter either individual or team research projects.

The four regional semifinalists from TAMS are:

Abhishek Mohan of Irving, who worked in the laboratory of Mohammed Omary, UNT professor of physics, on "Identification of a Polymeric Silver(I)-Based Protein Corona-Based Biointerface for Versatile Delivery of Targeted Nanotherapeutics in Vitro."

Sahil Patel of Irving and Steven Sun of Katy, who both worked in the laboratory of Carlos Ordonez, UNT professor of physics, on "Design and Simulation of a Novel Concentric Cone Antihydrogen Gravity."

David Yue of Plano, who was part of a team with a student from St. Mark's School of Texas. The two students worked with John Ferraris, professor of chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas, on "Innovative High-Performance Polymer-Blended Mixed-Matrix Membranes (PB-MMMs) with Heterogenous Triadic Compatibilizers — Small Organic Molecules, Metal Organic Frameworks, and Carbon Nanotubes — for Effective Gas Separation."

The TAMS regional finalists each received a $1,000 scholarship. They presented their research projects, via the Internet and webcam, before a panel of judges Nov. 11.

The TAMS semifinalists for the 2017 Siemens competition, the titles of their research projects and the researchers at UNT and at other institutions who directed them in their projects are:

Yuqing Liu of Sugar Land — "Novel Investigation into the Effects of Time-Mediated Addition of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on the Differentiation and Proliferation of Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells" with Miriam Rafailovich, Distinguished Professor of materials science and chemical engineering at Stony Brook University.

Aditya Paul of Plano — "Shark: Algorithm and Cryptanalysis of a Novel NLFSR-Based Stream Cipher" with Patricia Kite, biology teacher at Jasper High School in Plano.

William Qian of Frisco and Michael Shen of Plano — "A Nonstochastic Agent-based Approach to Modeling Viral Outbreaks Induced by University Contact Networks" with Armin Mikler, UNT professor of computer science and engineering.

Victor Song of Frisco — "A Novel Class of Accurate Statistical Methods for Classifying Circulating Tumor DNA" with Bruce Beutler, director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

UNT's Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science is the nation's first early college entrance residential program for gifted high school students. Mentored by faculty at UNT, TAMS students tackle complex, real-world problems, working on solutions and breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to energy consumption. It's an important pipeline for STEM education, nurturing the next generation of innovators, and is one of the many ways UNT advances science, engineering and technology.